Tiger Cub having trouble stopping / flames coming from muffler

[pfisterfarm]

I have a 12 year old Tiger Cub that hasn't been turning off lately. I turn the key to off and I usually have to get out of the seat in order to make it shut off. Now some times, when it stops flames come out of the muffler.

I have changed the oil and oil filter, I have changed both spark plugs, I have replaced the oil filter and fuel line from the selector valve to the engine. I have started putting SeaFoam in the gas tank to help clean the carburetor. I am going to try and replace the air filter.

I've heard of a solenoid as part of the carb... could this be the problem?

 

[bertsmobile1]

:welcome:

The engine get shut down by the switch earthing out the magneto.
On the switch there is a M (magneto ) terminal and a G (ground ) terminal
In the off position these two are connected and that is not happening with your switch properly
The carburettor has a solenoid with shuts off the fuel supply to the engine.
The purpose of this is to stop unburned fuel passing through the engine.
Both of these will of course stop the engine.

When you are changing the switch, also take the cover off the engine and follow the thin wire from the magneto back to make sure it is connected.
More than 1 mower I have come across had the mageto wire disconnected (which is a dangerous situation) and was stopping by cutting off the fuel.

With your mower it sounds like the ignition switch is in fact faulty.
Change it first as it is 1/2 the price of the solenoid.

 

[pfisterfarm]

We had a problem with a loose wire going to the switch last year. I'm wondering if we put it back in the wrong place and maybe that's part of the problem. The wire and switch look like:

I normally insert the wire into the top most slot where only one wire is in the picture. This wire wraps around the wiring harness. The other end looks like:


I'm not sure which wire is really which because I can't see where they're labelled.

 

[577jersey]

I would just check the connections on the existing switch and spray some contact cleaner in there...might just be dirty and oxidized a bit.
But it sounds like a switch issue to me also.
Good luck!

Tom